Cunneyworth’s time in Montreal is most notable thanks to his language issues with some of the French-Canadian media in Montreal since he did not speak French. That on top of the Canadiens’ poor play as well as scratching P.K. Subban helped make his tenure a short one. He coached just the final 50 games of the 2011-12 season before being let go.

Buffalo is a familiar place for the 52-year-old Cunneyworth. He was drafted by the Sabres in 1980 and played his first two seasons with them as well as his final season during their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999.

At Madison Square Garden, Marc Staal will face his brothers Eric Staal and Jordan Staal for the first time in the same game. We’ve heard plenty about the Staal family anytime they’ve faced each other one-on-one, but this is the first time all three of the NHL-playing brothers will square off against each other.

“I’m sure I’ll see a lot of either of them. When you’re up against one, it’s kind of easy to know when he’s on the ice, or if I’m matched up, but two of them . . . It’s going to be two of those faces all the time.”

At least they have all that family experience to build off of to know more of what it’s like to play against each other.

This won’t be the first time three Staal brothers have been in the same game, however. Last season, youngest brother Jared Staal joined Eric and Jordan in Carolina for a game together. Jared is currently with the Hurricanes’ farm team in Charlotte.

It looks like Alexander Ovechkin’s upper-body injury is a bit more problematic than the Washington Capitals let on.

According to team writer Mike Vogel, Ovechkin will miss the Capitals’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. He skated before today’s practice with defenseman John Erskine, who was placed on injured reserve yesterday, signaling he won’t be headed to Philly.

Ovechkin is listed as being day-to-day with his ailment and apparently injured it Wednesday night against Vancouver as NHL.com shares. He hasn’t missed a game due to injury since February 22, 2012.

As for who takes his spot on the top line, CSNWashington.com’s Chuck Gormley shows us it’s Eric Fehr who gets the call.

“There will be a hearing, and only afterwards will we be able to give some kind of comment,” Alexander Varlamov said. “I can only say one thing with complete responsibility: No crime has been committed whatsoever,” he added.

That remains to be seen as Varlamov still has to go through the legal process. At this time, he’s being held in a Denver jail where he’s awaiting being brought before a judge at 10 a.m. local time (noon ET).

PHT’s Morning Skate takes a look around the world of hockey to see what’s happening and what we’ll be talking about around the NHL world and beyond.

David Backes has averaged over 24 minutes per game over the past three games. Those are normal numbers for a top-pair defenseman, not so much for a forward. Are they relying on him and his line a bit too much? (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)